a2a and the Environment!

The a2a Active Lives Learners have been involved in environmental projects across Somerset and Devon for the last 4 years. In the last year they supported over 30 community projects, with the Learners being a knowledgeable team with a reputation for getting things done.

I myself, have been pleasantly surprised at how well the teams have taken to the environmental work, with tasks often being physically challenging, weather being unpredictable and lots of barriers to help projects achieve their overall aim for a site.

So why do the Learners work so well within the environmental community?

Let's take it from the Learners point of view first.

Our teams are lucky enough to receive amazing training from key partners, such as Carymoor Environmental Trust and the Yeovil Rivers Community Trust. The skills needed are mostly practical, which is a learning style preferred by many of the Learners. Many environmental task will need to be repeated, such as grass cutting, coppicing, planting, which means the Learners get lots of practise and are able to become very confident and knowledgeable.

When we clear a project site, the Learners are able to see an almost instant positive result, which is really gratifying. For projects we have been helping for a long period of time, the Learners have seen even more bigger and amazing results for their work, saplings growing into woodland, ponds filling with life and flower meadows appearing where there was just rubbish and nettles before.

There are so many place in the South West that are enjoyed by local communities that the Learners can point at and say, 'I helped make that.'

One key piece of feedback given to us by the Learners was: "it is nice to offer help to others, than receive it ourselves all the time"

From the environmental point of view, the Learners are vitally important.

With retirement ages increasing, people in work taking on longer hours or more responsibility, people supporting each other with childcare and many other reasons that need our time and attention, there isn't a lot of time left for people to give to local projects.

Those that do are often restricted to weekends, but sites need maintenance year round and can often need more than one volunteer day a week to stay on top of things, let alone to train individuals on There certainly isn't any money spare to pay staff.

And then there are the a2a Active Lives Learners. Teams wanting to help others, use their skills and able to assist on weekdays. Active Lives staff are able to get them to where they want to be, we have a good selection of tools or we know where to get them and we know who to ask or where to go to help find additional resources, such as seed, saplings or wood.

The more sites we visit, the more people we meet, which increases our expertise and pool of willing helpers. You can see why the Learners are in high demand.

So, what are our hopes as we go forward?

We want to continue being a positive force for nature, allowing our Learners to show off their ability. We want to expand the expertise within the Learner team and get involved in even more advanced projects. For some of our Learners, they want to explore the possibility of paid work within environmental projects and we want to help them on this journey.

Ultimately we want to raise the profile of the a2a Learners and the projects they are supporting. If you enjoy accessing a local green space, the chances are they need help. If you'd like to get involved with our Learner teams and their local efforts, then why not get in touch and help us as we make the South West and greener place for all of us.

By Joe Knights | 27 May 2025